Why you are probably a better Flamenco Dancer than a Job Searcher

While sitting thinking over my Saturday morning coffee, I was trying to think of a way to show why job seekers in the current economic climate shouldn’t feel so embarrassed as to why their Job Search UK is going so badly at present.

If you have been reading this blog for a while, then you will know that by background training, I am an engineer, having spent the first 22years of my career in telecoms engineering. So if I have a problem to solve, I like to do two things:

Write the problem down

Get it into some form of number/chart visualisation

The result is often solutions or system based, hence why much of what you see here and in the 5 Steps To Employment system is flow chart based: easy to learn, replicable, with repeatable consistent job getting results for all.

So, back to the problem of Job Search UK. I decided that what I would do is create a chart of the average working persons life in the UK, from leaving school at 16 to retiring at 65. Here it is:

Measure

Value

Years

TOTAL

Frequency

Working Life

From aged 16 to 65

49.0

Education

A-Levels/BTEC: 16-18

2.0

Degree: 3years

3.0

Total

-5.0

-5.0

Sub Total

44.0

Number of Jobs/career

Average job duration, 2.5years

17.6

2.5

912.5

Job Search

Average of 90days

90.0

0.2

4.3

912.5

Skills Development

10.0%

4.9

10.0

Total Education

20.2%

9.9

5.0

Sickness

5.0%

2.5

20.0

Holiday

30 days/annum

30.0

0.1

4.0

12.2

So if you take an average 16-65 years career today, then that’s 49years of work. But you have to take off three allowances for training and education/development:

2years for A-Levels/BTEC

3years for a degree/apprenticeship

10% out of your career

So in total, apart from work, education and development will make up most of your working life, around 10 years or 20% of it in total.

Then we need to take off holiday and sickness, at around 30days/per annum and 5% of your time. These each make up around 4years and 2.5 years each.

What about Job Search UK? Well the average job search takes 90days, and on average you will change jobs over your entire career every 2.5years. So that’s 4.3years in total, twice as much time as you will spend sick, and around the same amount as you will spend on holiday.

Any HR Professional will tell you that the theory about learnt skills is that its multiplication of:

Amount of time spent learning and doing

Multiplied by the frequency of which you undertake that task

So something you do regularly for short durations, you would nominally be as skilled at as something that you do irregularly by for a longer duration. There is also a latency/efficiency issue, in that something you have done more recently would be considered a more competent skill than something that you did regularly 10+ years ago.

One of the early things that I learnt about job search, was that as it occurred so infrequently in one’s career (every 2.5years on average), it was easier to put people’s lack of success it into context by comparing it to other learnt-skilled activity in their environment. Why should you be embarrassed or ashamed when you do it so infrequently? You might well still be using an old school or college mentored and since added-to CV. When job search has changed so much in the past 10years, your (lack of) success should no be surprising. Hence you probably buy carpet more often than you Job Search.

But what this chart showed me, was that while job search takes up a lot of time in most careers – as much as your time spent on holiday – it occurs so relatively infrequently, there are probably other skills that you are more relatively skilled at. Such as Flamenco Dancing!

It’s coming towards the end of the school summer holiday time now in the UK, and many of you will have returned from the sunnier Mediterranean climates, including Spain. The country has gone through some tough times, with national unemployment approaching 25% and under25’s unemployment almost at 50%. If you think that Job Search UK is tough, think about the numbers in Spain.

I have two good friends in Spain, Graham who runs Valencia Property, and Steve who runs This Is Spain. Both football mad and long time Spanish residents with their families, if you happen to be thinking of relocating to Spain I would strongly recommend that you chat to them first for some great guidance.

My point in mentioning this, is that if you were in Spain for your summer holiday, then you will know that activities are one of the great holiday things that you do to get into the spirit of things.

Like many men, I would not confess to be a great dancer, but when you are in a foreign country how many of us have refused the obligatory invite to a free or low cost dance lesson? In Spain it is often Flamenco dancing that they teach, and while the various regions have their own preferred dance style, Flamenco lessons will always get the punters in, and occasionally paying.

So lets say that you go to Spain for your foreign holiday three years running, and do one job search in this duration: are you more skilled at job search or Flamenco dancing? The answer is probably as equally skilled at both:

1xjob search in 2.5 years frequency

3x Flamenco lessons x 1years frequency

So there it is. Why be embarrassed about your lack of success ion Job Search? Simple human learning curves suggest that most are at least equally skilled at buying carpet and Flamenco dancing. So why not get some help, make the right steps first, and get employed quicker instead?

]]>LinkedIn: watch out who you connect to…http://cv4.biz/linkedin-watch-out-who-you-connect-to/
http://cv4.biz/linkedin-watch-out-who-you-connect-to/#commentsFri, 03 Aug 2012 09:30:27 +0000http://cv4.biz/?p=6548LinkedIn: watch out who you connect to…

LinkedIn is a wonderful resource, especially for job seekers, but you have to watch out who you connect to.

At some point in this series I will do an article on LinkedIn Open Networkers, or LIONs as they are more commonly known, but this post focus on a very different aspect of LinkedIn: the automated spam-Bot network.

Do you recognise this man…

Do you recognise this man? He claims to be Philip Green of Xenoxx IT consultants:

Or what about this man? He claims to be Tim Doring, also of Xenoxx IT consultants:

Spam-Bot networks on LinkedIn

Why would someone take these images and fake an identity under another name? Well, there are a few, but the advantages are all for the person creating the spam-Bot network, and not for those who connect to them.

LinkedIn SEO works in a number of ways, but the basics of ranking both on and off platform are:

Headline

Title/s and position descriptions

Personal summery

Specialities

Recommendations

But due to the three-span network limitation, often the most important in reality is the number of connections a person has. So you can be the best X there is, but if someone outside your 3-span network is searching for X, your profile either won’t be found/displayed, or will be displayed anonymously.

Hence new users who want to built instantaneous credibility and traffic to their profile need connections, so how do they do this? Well, they could pop over to Fiverr, and buy 2,000 “real people” connections for $5:

But what are they actually buying? They are buying 2,000 Spam-Bot connections. In other words, a totally unresponsive network.

Will they get SEO credibility? Err, that’ll be a no as well, as these spam-BOT networks only have credibility at the third level, when they get real people to connect to their network of false identities.

What could these people – who have been conned – have done to make sure that they didn’t connect to a fake spam-Bot network, like the Xenoxx one?

No.1 – Name and picture

You are not credible and won’t be taken as such without both a full name and profile picture. Don’t leave them blank or use false items, and don’t use your company name and/or company logo to improve SEO. Honest, it doesn’t, and no one searches LinkedIn for lawn care in Ohio! Without a name and photo, your ability to connect will decrease by at least two thirds, so make it your number1 priority.

No.2 – SEO starts in your title and headline

Many people talk a lot of rubbish about SEO on LinkedIn, but it starts not in your name but in your title and headline. So make these a combiantion of your actual title, and how you add value/solve problems for your customers. If your company doesn’t have a marketing manual, and you don’t know how people find you, then go over to Google Adword Keyword tool and find out. Then optimise your profile using these keywords, and start by adding them into your title and headline.

We suggest that you use the form for creating your profile: I am, I do/deliver, (I seek).

No.3 – Position in your profile, don’t sell!

People on LinkedIn are not looking to be sold to, they are looking to network. Now that might lead later/off platform to a sale, but it rarely will on platform. You are hence far better off positioning yourself in your profile, telling people about you and your organistaion and how you deliver value, than actually selling. Secondly, a brief profile is as bad as one that screams “Buy Me!”

For job seekers, a similarly bad idea is to make yourself look desperate for a job. Potential employers will only question why if you are so good, you are still not employed?

No.4 – A more complete timeline leads to more networking opportunity

LinkedIn is a networking site, and people come to connect with other interesting people. What type of interesting people? Those who are helpful and connected, and also those who they share something in common with.

Hence, the more complete your timeline, the more that you are likely to both appear in LinkedIn Searches, and attract new connections when people look at your profile.

Add features and functions

LinkedIn provide a good list of add-on or plug-in features, which allow you to attach blogs, videos and various feeds into your LinkedIn profile. These add two things:

Depth, breadth (and direction): you are more than just words on a timeline. Provide links to the things that you want people to go to (and yes, possibly buy at). You become a 3D over a 2D person

Colour and activity: a base LI profile is blue/black form with black typeface on a white screen. Adding video and blog links, or the Amazon favourites option, add colour.

Don’t forget the footer!

I’ll be honest, and say that most people won’t read the footer of you LI profile. But those who do are egerally the detailled/take action types. I always know if someone has actually read my profile, because right at the bottom are instructions on how to connect to me.

The footer hence may not be read by many, but those that do your conversion ration to connections will be over 80%. Compared to an average viewings to connections ration of less than 20%, that’s excellent.

In our regular Thursday Job Application Form series, this post is about applying for Sainsburys Jobs.

We have already done Aldi, Asda, Morrisons and Tescos in this series, so there is lot of information here to apply for Retail Jobs.

Sainsburys background

Sainsbury’s was established as a partnership in 1869 when John James Sainsbury and his wife Mary Ann opened a store at 173 Drury Lane in Holborn, London. A retailer of fresh foods, the trading philosophy was stated as “Quality perfect, prices lower”. The innovative stores featured a whole range of own brand products, served by uniform staff in a shop which had tilled floors and marble work surfaces – different to the saw dust floors and wooden grocery stores of the day. By 1922 the organisation had expanded so quickly that it incorporated as a private company, with each store offering six departments: dairy; bacon and hams; poultry and game; cooked meats; fresh meats; groceries. All store location were chosen to be in the middle of a parade to improve display, and offered home deliveries.

Still highly London based, in the 1930s it bought Midlands based retailer Thoroughgood in 1936. The Second World War was tough for the company, with many stores based in London and food being rationed. In the 1950s, after a visit to the United States, chairman Alan Sainsbury pioneered self-service stores in the UK, opening the first in Croydon in 1950.

After listing o the stock market in 1973, Sainsburys began to enlarge its store portfolio organically, from 10,000sqft to 20,000sqft. The last counter-service stored closed in Peckham in 1982. The SavaCentre brand was co-created with British Home Stores in 1977, with half of the 35,000sqft area devoted to non-food items. In light of competition from Asda and Tesco, these stores were re-branded Sainsburys from 1999.

For much of the 20th century, Sainsburys had been the market leading Uk supermarket. Due to a series of errors in the early 1990s, by 1996 it had lost this to Tesco, and would later be overtaken by Asda. Its was only after the appointment of Sir Peter Davis in 2000, and then current CEO Justin King in 2004, the first non-family members to head uo the companies management, that this trend began to turn. Sainsburys now rivals Asda in turnover, from a relatively smaller store base and square footage.

Sainsburys job application

Sainsburys has its own dedicated jobs portal, which can be found at sainsburys.jobs. That is the first .jobs url portal to be investigated in this series.

The front page is bright, clean and matching Sainsburys branding, so in other words: orange and white. At the top are tabs for:

Sainsbury’s Corporate

If that’s not enough, there is also a dedicated YouTube channel. Two points of note:

There is almost too much information here, which for the job seeker could get confusing. Actually, most of the items in the footer are the commonly-used information pieces in each of the dedicated department sections in the top of page tabs. To me hence, the design brief was to filter job applicants at the top of the page towards departments/careers if you know what you want (big graphics in the middle so that you initially can not see the footer), and give the “not sure but want to work for us” information at the footer. It does work, just a tad initially confusing!

As I always keep saying to job seekers, notice the balance and order of a jobs webpage to be guided and note that employers focus and balance of recruiting policy and requirements. Yes, stores and logistics comes first, but there is a heavy focus here on pharmacy and graduates. The dedicated YouTube channel content is almost all focused on graduate recruitment

This two-point focus carries on down through the top tabs, as long as you know what you want to do. The subsections are tabbed with job titles, which if you click-on give a little bit more about that type of job, all backed by an existing employees experience. But, for instance, how many people would be looking for a “Petrol Customer Service Assistant” job, as opposed to any instore job at their local store?

Secondly there are three tabs to the right of each sub section, common to all of the top page tabs, namely: About; Rewards & Benefits; Search Careers.

Confused? Yes, I was! It is all good stuff, packed full of information, I just think that it is:

Focused on getting you to apply, but then using jargon (too specific job titles, over that store/location)

Too many ways to get at the same information, but at the same time bypassing the common job seeker questions

So lets give you a guide of how to apply for Sainsburys jobs!

Apply for a job at Sainsburys

Here’s our guide on how to apply for a job at Sainsburys, using the information on their jobs portal that you should read:

Start by going to the dedicated jobs portal, which you can find at sainsburys.jobs

Read the About Us section. There is lots of good information here about the company and its business, and opportunities within

Now read the Rewards section. This, honestly, is horribly impressive. To call it comprehensive is an understatement, both in terms of what it offers the employee and the information that its provides the job seeker. If there is a section of this whole Sainburys employment offer that stands out and shows Sainsburys roots as a family started and orientated company, then this is it. If it doesn’t impress you – personally for me it easily stands next to the excellent package offered by the John Lewis Partnership – then please, read it again

Still unsure if want to work for Sainsburys (be amazed if you don’t after that Rewards package offer), then read the Why Us section. This is a nice HR piece on the whole Sainsburys employment opportunity

Now onto the meat of the information provided to job seekers, which is contained in the What We Are Looking For section. This outlines the six key elements as:

As I said above, I think there is lots of great information for job seekers on the Sainsburys Jobs portal. There is just a lot of it, and it makes navigation difficult – hope that the above guide helps!

Sainsburys graduate scheme

Before we get into the task of actually applying for a job at Sainsburys, I have to highlight the focus and excellent information on the Sainsburys graduate scheme, which is called 2020 Leaders. Clicking on that link will take you to an again comprehensive and dedicated Sainsburys graduate scheme portal, which claims that:

2020 leaders is the name for our new graduate programme. Others take you through a ‘scheme’ – we’ll take you to the top.

Putting the spin aside, I think you should take the claim seriously if based on the quality of information provided. The employment industry perceived top retail job graduate schemes are Tesco, Asda and Marks & Spencer. 2020 looks like a great rival to these, if not in some ways better. It may not have the reputation right now, but some of the other graduate schemes compared to this look neglected and sitting on past laurels.

Sainsburys jobs application form

OK, lets apply for a job. Again, as for all retail jobs, I’ll look for a retail position in the South Wales area.

Before you start your job application, read the Making the most of your Application section. It is again comprehensive, and walks you through the whole job application process with Sainsburys. It tells you about the application process, interview preparation and assessment centres

Click on the Career Search tab (top right of first page, or on each of the dedicated tabs). There are two sections: at the top a search section, allowing searches on postcode, keyword or career groups; a lower section highlighting certain jobs currently available (Job Seekers Note: I view these as the jobs most needing filling, ie: you should stand a good chance of getting employed applying for these positions)

On entering our Cardiff based postcode, I found 9 current vacancies (July 2012), which were shown in the lower section of the screen. Each has a title, location and to the right a yellow “Details and How to Apply” tab.

For the purposes of this exercise, I choose a Convenience Customer Service Assistant position at Barry Park Crescent Local, South Glamorgan

The screen now tabs down (allowing you to potentially compare positions), and offers details on: job description; map of job location; base details of full/part time and pay rates; the working hours (Job Seekers Note: again, this is comprehensive and open. You know what job you are applying for and its requirements)

I was then taken to a dedicated jobs application portal for Sainsburys Local. You are asked to enter an postcode of your home location, and an eMail address. The notes point out that you need to be located within a certain distance of a store to be able to apply, which is common policy in the retail industry. Living outside a 5mile radius of that job, I got rejected!

So, returning to the job search portal, I then applied for a similar position at the Cardiff Bay Bute Street store. Again, I got rejected as being too far away!

Returning for a third time, I used an alternate ID and postcode, and after asking for confirmation of my location for a second time, was taken to a page which expanded on the details given in the search menu.

Clicking on the grey “Apply Now” button at the bottom of the page, you are then taken to page which fulfils two functions: Confirm your Right to work in the UK; registration on the Sainsburys jobs portal

Having registered, a box at the top now advises that you need to confirm your email address, but that this might take 3hours. Secondly, I am dumped in another search page. What happened to that job that I clicked “Apply Now” for? There doesn’t appear to be integration between the jobs section and the job application section, at least for new to Sainsburys job applicants

Job Seekers Note: make a note of the job reference number of the job you apply for. I know, it is crazy but such failures do happen in computer systems = Opps! Secondly, being Welsh based, why is it that all of the English counties have their own drop-down tab in the Area of Country tab, yet Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are all singular options? I might just deem that bias and/or poor systems design. What is poor systems design is the size/scale of the font here. If you are sight impaired or even well sighted (I was viewing the information on a 22inch screen), then the way to apply is on the far right of the displayed information boxes

Clicking the apply now button on the far right of the screen (next to each position), now seems bugged! Having got my email confirmation in less than 3minutes, it took five cycles to be able to apply for the job that I had selected. The system at one point (on the job description page) even warned me that if I found that I could not apply for that job, then I was to logout and then log back in. These are basic computer system errors, and the fact that a systems programmer placed such a note within the system strongly suggests that they know that there are computer bugs in the there. Very poor!

I eventually got to an application page! After asking for your name, the next details ask for two referees – so be prepared. The way that you are asked to enter your age seems ageist (I am pre-1979, so that’s three clicks+). Then there’s a “Special arrangements for interviews” question, which is next to confirming that you have now current convictions. I don’t think Sainsburys are ageist or biased, but the layout here is “questionable” at best

I then ran into a series of systems errors. The job application system is based on an Oracle database, and seemed at each of the four steps to fail! As a result, this was the longest job portal write-up that we have so far undertaken, due to errors within the system. Wonder how many job applicants fallout of the system thanks to systems errors?

Sainsburys job application UK

Overall, this was a good job applicant experience, let down by two easily solvable issues:

Overly complex portal design, which borders on the confusing

Basic technical glitches in the job application system

There are a lot of good reasons to work for Sainsburys, and much as I think that the average job seeker could be confused by the portal, I am impressed by the depth of information. There are no excuses for the technical glitches in the job application system (which is basically the old PeopleSoft system, now improved by Oracle), which in this modern age should be easy to solve, and tested – like we have done here – regularly.

Overall, a good experience let down by two issues, which could be quickly and easily improved: 7/10

Sometimes you look at things, and think: “Bet they lost their job as a result of doing that!” A friend on social media told me to have a look at a job advert posted on Reed.co.uk recently by Croydon-based recruiter Operations Resources, which is one of the worst Example of a Job Advert that I have seen in a while.

However, from the Job Seekers point of view, there are some really usefull lessons here, and that is the purpose of this post.

Now, if you just read the headline and the pay level, and then simply Click To Apply, then you definitely didn’t read the rest of the job advert! If you are one of the eight people who did apply, then either go back now and withdraw your application, or don’t read this blog post any further.

NB: if you don’t like expletives or bad language, or are under 16years of age, then you should NOT read this blog post any further. I have left the actual job advert text “as is”, complete with 4-letter words and all spelling mistakes. You have been warned!

Recruiters purposefully LIE in Job Adverts

The recruiter who wrote the job advert can not have wanted anyone to ever see it, let alone their contract employer client. The opening reads:

My client are a massive bunch of indecisive twats who like to think of themselves as being better than they actually are. They are now looking for likeminded twats to join them. You will be arrogant and have a high level of self importance, along with a real desire to rip customers off to make lots of money.

I’m pretty sure that they didn’t write that job advert in a good place of mind for themselves, their employer client or any prospective job applicants!

However, putting aside the 4-letter words, there is some truth of the general recruitment market contained within the rest of the job advert. If you strip away the bravado, its actually accurate of many job seekers experiences:

You will be responsible for selling to customers things they don’t need, at grossley inflated prices. Salary on offer is £18-22,000, although at interview my client will tell you that you can achieve manager status in 2-3 years with a salary of £35k plus, however this is rubbish as the same idiots have been managing the same branches for many years.

I always say to job seekers, that it is not the title and salary that you want to focus on, but the skills that the job gives you and the total package of remuneration. But as a recruiter, I know that most job seekers do their first-pass “Apply or not” choice on those two things: title and salary.

So when taking a new recruitment brief, and especially when marketing it, while most recruiters will test a market (possibly with two or more job adverts), many others will “adjust” – OK, down right lie – about what their employer-client has on offer to get a better quality of job applicant through the door.

Truths about Job Application

Secondly, there are some nice truths about job interviews:

They will interview you and make it sound that they’re keen on you, then arrange a second interview at which you will think you’ve done really well, however, your feedback will be, “not for us” which will be really helpful to us in indentifying more suitable candidates and to you in understanding why you didn’t get the job.

In the 5 Steps To Employment, people often ask: “Ian, why does step5 Negotiation exist? Surely are the job applicant, you just sign the contract on offer?”

As a recruiter and trained negotiator, I know that not to be true. Businesses want best value, and even if they are happy at a defined level, well they think, why not try to get them on board for a bit less? Secondly you as the job applicant can always find soft areas of negotiation: time scale, training, development, mentoring, allowances, agreed reviews, better car, more healthcare, etc. Once you start pulling the negotiation string, you may be quite surprised that while the pay is fixed in most corporates, almost everything else is not – and even under spent in many cases, looking for spenders.

Lessons from this Example of a Job Advert

What can job seekers learn from this what I see as an “I’m frustrated and want to take it out on this job advert” job advert?

Firstly, read below the total and salary. We always suggest that you read the job advert three times, and then take a printout before you even think about applying

Secondly, ignoring the frustration in the top third, there’s some truth in the second two thirds. Both recruiters and employers will adjust job titles and headline packages to attract a better quality of candidate

Thirdly, the job is not secured until the Contract of Employment is signed

So, there you have it: the (really dumb and bad) Example of a Job Advert, that also happens to be truthful, insightful and educational for the Job Seeker.

Differences between a CV and a Good CV

I’ll cover the first question first, but the real answer is in the second question as to which method you adopt.

The difference between Writing a CV and creating a Good CV personally is measured in three aspects:

Number of jobs applied for

How close the job secured is to your ideal job

Finally, the amount of time taken in total job search (ie: from deciding to look for a new job, to actually accepting an offer)

One of the things I quickly learnt about good job seekers, was that they had two key advantages:

They knew what they were looking for next in their ideal job/career plan

They knew the state of the employment market

As a result, through better communication which created better Rapport, they hence spent less in job search than other job seekers, getting employed in less than 30days and 5 or less job applications.

In the next post, Writing a Great CV, we will concentrate on the personal factors to get you closer to getting that ideal/great career plan job. This post focus on adapting your CV to that good job that you have seen on a jobs board/in a newspaper, and improving your chances of getting a job interview.

This advice hence fits between that given in Writing a CV, and submission within a job application….. (hence why the nubering starts at 14!)

How To Write a Good CV

Baseline CV: right now, you what is technically termed a baseline CV. Yes, you could use this for job applications, but its not customised to that particular job application. That’s what these steps are about

SQE Match check: the employer has specified the 5/8 competencies (skills, qualifications, experiences) that they want in the job advert. Read the job advert three times: does this job sound right for you? If yes, then print it out, and then highlight all the competencies using a highlighter pen. Now find the same words in your CV. Ideally, the employer wants a match on all of them, and in these tough economic times, they can afford to be choosey.

Being honest with yourself: having highlighted the required competencies, beig honest with yourself, do you have at least 80% of them (ie: could you reach that level if you modified your CV?). If not, then find another job to apply for

Psychology of reading CV’s/constructing them to be read: as the employer/reader, you want quick confirmation in the first half page of the CV that it is worth reading all 2 pages. Hence, can you find the competencies mentioned in the first half page is essential? Therefore as the job applicant, you have to “tick” each of the required competencies in that first half page, ie: your perosnal statement and current position.

Adjusting your CV, step1 – vetting: adjust your CV so that all of the required competencies appear in the top half of page1, either in your personal statement or current position. Now ideally you would use the exact words used in the job advert, but doing so would make you look like a CV liar. So don’t do that, but use 70% of the words but ideally order them in the same order that they appear in the job advert

Adjusting your CV, step2 – more meat: now that we have got past vetting, when reading the rest of your CV the employer will look for more experience and ability to deliver around that competency. Now adjust each of your job positional statements to better reflect the required criteria, ie: focus on this competencies; expand and use similar words; order them in the same order as the job advert

Check, check and check again: now go back through your CV, and check that you have the required competencies: in the top half of the first page of your CV; expanded and in the same order in the rest of your CV. Then get someone to read it through for you, and use of free CV review service, to make sure that you have got it right

The Applicant Tracking System trick: if you are applying via an Applicant Tracking System, then there is just one more adjustment that you can make before submission. I will cover this in a later post, but it adds another cycle to the checking

Before you submit your CV

Check – not required: due to various pieces of legislation, there is now no need to include your date of birth, sex, sexual orientation, or marital status

References: It’s good to have two or more people who can provide a work or personal reference. Ideally, one should be your most recent employer. If you haven’t worked for a while it could be someone who has known you for a long time. It should be someone who can comment on your qualities in relation to the job. You should ask the person to agree to this beforehand.

How to use your CV

Send your CV with a covering letter or email asking companies if they have any current or future vacancies. Use your CV to help you remember all the dates and information you need each time you need to fill in an application form. When applying for jobs by phone it can help if you are asked to give more information about previous jobs. Having your CV with you while you’re waiting to be called in to an interview can help refresh your memory. You can also leave a copy with the interviewer if they do not already have one. Recruitment agencies may sometimes ask to see your CV before you can register with them.

Usually, I would do the review of UK Unemployment figures the day after they came out from the Office of National Statistics, but this time I decided to wait three days. Apart from being busy, why?

Read behind the headline figure of a fall in UK unemployment fell by 65,000 to 2.58 million in the three months to May, and the news is not so good:

The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance rose by 6,100 to 1.6 million in June

The number of people out of work for more than two years rose by 18,000 to 441,000, the highest since 1997

Unemployment here in Wales its up by 2,000

The number of vacancies is at a low within the last three years

Further, of that fall of 65,000, 50,000 of those jobs were created in central London. Now, what’s going on in London over the next month that would require an additional 50,000 people?

Plus we have to add that this years crop pf graduates from schools, colleges and universities still have to reach the statisticians measurement system, yet.

We also need to add in that all of the economic professionals are getting nervous. The Bank of England announced Quantative Easing Phase3 last week, while the IMF after reigning back its forecast for 2012-2014 for UK economic growth by between 0.5% and 1.0% – effectively halving it – urged the Chancellor to do more to avoid an elongated double-dip recession and lost decade.

In summary, looking back over the years, July is always a good month for employment statistics. The summer creates more employment through employees taking holidays and resultant temporary vacancies, while the holidays that they take create seasonal vacancies. Plus, the new graduates have not got into the system, so are not counted. Summary: vacancy high, job seekers low = employment rising.

The key months for me for measuring unemployment and job creation in the UK economy are always September and October, and February through May. These periods avoid seasonal issues, and further are fully-measured periods of who’s out there seeking work, and who’s creating it.

But this year, the July underlying economic story is not good. In fact it looks more like post-2008 recesion, as opposed to a proposed recovery “next year”. With the Euro crisis still ongoing, and companies storing cash and reducing employment, I await the end of summer to see if we get a better forecast.

As part of our continuing Friday series on LinkedIn, I decided this week to focus on Linkedin Recommendation Examples. Why? To me personally this is out of sequence:

LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn network: contact building and groups

LinkedIn SEO

LinkedIn recommendations (and examples of)

But this is the one that people ask for the most at present, so here we go!

Job application referencing in the modern litigious world

A few years ago, after successfully applying for a new job, the prospective employer would write a letter to the job applicant saying that yes they had secured the position, subject to satisfactory job references. Then you picked out two or more people (nominally one a work collage and one a personal friend), and got them to say how great that you were.

Then, a few legal problems occurred. These were mainly due to the “no win, no fee”/ambulance chasing lawyers figuring out that there was more money to be made in suing companies that had strayed slightly outside the legally defined hiring process. Employers had deeper pockets than the insurance companies they were presently going after, in the now tighter regulated world of personal injury. From a business and income view point, employers were more than happy to effectively pay three times as much money to solve a hiring problem, than the average payout for personal injury.

As a result, HR professionals got legal advice, and tightened up their hiring procedures, including those applying to job references. Most company operating systems now fully cover job referencing, which in most cases bans all employees except HR from providing a job reference. The resultant reference hence is highly impersonal (HR probably don’t know you, and don’t work regularly with/manage you), and often only consists of:

Dates of employment with that organisation

Reason why you left

If there are any outstanding legal cases being pursued against you.

Welcome to Social Media referencing

At the same time as this was happening, Social Media began to develop. You will notice these days lots of “experts” and “gurus” are around, but like a job application, claims of skill and delivery are only verified by either:

Actual delivery on your required task

Reliable third party references

Hence, while the world of employment was legally clamping down on job references and turning them into sterilised facts, the developing Social Media need was creating a new and similar referencing problem.

How to write a Linkedin recommendation

If you read a reference for anyone, then what do you want to know? The need probably falls into two basic areas:

Them personally: what are they like as a human being? Often the most important being style and approach

Capabilities that they have/results you have witnessed them deliver: what skills do they have, what can they do, what have they done for you?

However, the third most important area is: Do you still know them/would you work with them again?

As a recruiter, I actually conclude that if you are convinced in job interview that this person has the right competencies required for the job and if you/they got on in the interview, then what you really are looking for from a reference is the third measure. If someone says great things about someone else, yet doesn’t want to work with them again, the obvious question is why? There are some great reasons, most often in the academic, research and professional worlds, where once an apprentice is now a professional-pier. But outside of that, it probably relates to not wanting to repeat a bad experience.

Linkedin recommendation generator

Here are the steps that I use to generate LinkedIn recommendations:

Have you met/how well do you know this person? No point in giving a recommendation that will damage your own reputation

Will you get a recommendation in return? Be nice to know that you should

SITUATION: in what context did you work together/know each other? State this up front

TASK: what was the task/s that you were to accomplish? If in doubt, state the context in which you worked and focus on the biggest project, win or gain

ACTION: what did the person that you are writing a recommendation do, and how did their personal style assure delivery/make working with them easier

RESULT: what was the outcome? Did you achieve the required result? (NB: of course you did, other wise you wouldn’t be writing about it, as it other wise wouldn’t say much about you let alone them)

Close on stating whether you have worked together since

As part of the LinkedIn process, no recommendation is ever displayed until the person receiving the recommendation approves it. Secondly, you as the giver can always change it later (subject to the receiver again approving it), or withdraw it:

Great Linkedin recommendation

I recommend that you draft out your LinkedIn recommendations before submitting them, and as there is no draft procedure on Linked, you will need to use a system such as MSWord.

Often like a Professional CV or a Cover Letter, the key to writing a great LinkedIn recommendation is in the opening line. With more people in the soft-skills market involving training and mentoring, focusing this on their people impact I have noticed makes a huge difference, both in terms of speed of acceptance and compliments that they get from their LinkedIn recommendations:

Best Linkedin recommendation

The best LinkedIn recommendation is not actually the ones that you give, but the ones that you receive. In fact, much as BNI founder Dr Ivan Misner would say, “Givers Gain!” The procedure that I use for the best LinkedIn recommendation is hence:

Pick your closest network, ie: the people most likely to give you a LinkedIn recommendation

Give them a LinkedIn recommendation first using the above formula on how to write a LinkedIn recommendation

When they come back to you and offer to provide you with a LinkedIn recommendation, ask them to include a few keywords. This will hence improve both your on and off platform SEO for those terms

We coach an extended version of this process as part of our Professional CV Writing Service, to both check potential references, and gain legal fully rounded job references for our clients that enables them to get employed quicker.

Linkedin Recommendation

LinkedIn recommendations are easy to give, and even easier to receive. If you understand what you would be looking for in a job reference and transfer that to the LinkedIn platform using the above LinkedIn recommendation generator formula, then your networking will improve greatly.

As part of our continuing series of the review of jobs portals and job application procedures for various companies, this week we tackle River Island jobs

River Island: history and background

The company was set up in 1948 by Bernard Lewis and his brothers, operating from a small shop in East London, trading as Lewis Separates. By 1965 Lewis Separates had 70 stores, and rebranded as Chelsea Girl, chosen because at the time the King’s Road in Chelsea was the hub of fashion, music and popular culture. Menswear followed in 1982 with the launch of Concept Man, before the two brands joined together to become one retailer under the name of River Island in 1988. In 1993 the brand took the first step to become a global fashion brand when it opened a shop in Republic of Ireland, and has since expanded into a dozen markets including Russia, Poland, and the Middle East. In 2010 River Island launched Kidswear, and in 2011, Chelsea Girl was re-introduced as a capsule collection within River Island stores. Today, River Island has over 300 stores within the United Kingdom.

Applying for River Island Jobs

If you tap “River Island Jobs” into your favourite internet search engine, then you will find that no dedicated separate Jobs Portal emerges for River Island.

You have to go in through the main online River Island website/portal, and then get down to the bottom of the webpage to find the last listing, careers. It’s like they don’t want you to find it, and must be getting more than enough jobs applications at present.

However, once you are inside the dedicated jobs section, then it’s a different story. The layout on bright white pages with easy access side bar fully reflects the on-trend brand of River Island.

You will be placed on the “Want to work for us” section, which acts like the effective home page. Where ever you go on the jobs section, to the right is a big/bright “Apply Here” marker tab which seems like its stalking you. But with this and the easy access layout, job seekers can not complain about not being able to find the required information.

The information in the various sections I found were verging on the stark, but honestly all the information is there. The most obvious example of this starkness is the “How to apply” section, which simply says: “Just click on the link to the right and find a job that suits you!” Personally I would have liked an outline here of what to expect (Job Seekers Note: this information actually does come later in the process)

In the lefthand side bar you will find the following main sections, which I strongly suggest that you read before applying:

Careers

Store Roles

Head Office

A Day In The Life

Underneath each are between 2 and 5 sub-tabs, which provide access to additional information, including a specialist Work Placements section – I have not seen that in many employment portals, so useful.

We will be focusing/applying for a retail job today in this post, but like many retaillers, I found that there was a strong focus on training, ie:

An initial induction to introduce you to River Island as a business

A structured new starter induction & development programme for head office employees or a 3-4 week induction programme at a training store for sales advisors and store managers

Jobs at River Island

Each has its own dedicated “Day in the life of” tab, plus there are extra sections for the retail side. Taking the Sales Advisor tab for instance, there is lots of good detail:

We rely on our Sales Advisors to represent River Island and deliver outstanding customer service in all our stores.

Talented and dedicated sales teams are the key to our success, so if you think you’ve got what it takes to work for us we want to hear from you.

From welcoming customers into our stores to ensuring that key products are placed correctly and helping customers find their ideal fashion fix, River Island Sales Advisors play an important role in operating procedures. You’ll be advising customers in the fitting room, processing payments, helping out on the sales floor and ensuring our customers leave the store happy with their purchases.

Job Seekers Note: much as though there is not a lot of focus on training in this section, this is more reflective of company culture over the job holders experience. Note the strong focus on customer (as always in retail), but also: talent; display and merchandising; advising; cash handling; and just to close out – more customer service

River Island Jobs apply online

I now tried to apply for a retail job in South Wales:

Click the “Apply Here” tab. You will get taken over to a dedicated Applicant Tracking System located on the ChangeWorkNow.co.uk (CWN) portal (NOTE: we have not provided a dedicated link for you to click to apply, as these url’s change regularly. Simply go to one of the links above, click that, and then click “Apply Here” on River Islands own website)

You will land on a dedicated CWN page for River Island, which looks like River Islands own portal/website. The job and application information provided on River Islands own website now disapears, so we suggest that you keep a second window open to refer back to this while applying

There are three options: Head Office; Store Management; Sales Advisor – I clicked the third one

You are now taken to a dedicated search page on CWN’s website, where you can search for jobs. The River Island branding now mostly disapears, although you can tell its still River Island. The page layout is clean and clear, and easily accessible

You can search for: permenant and temporary jobs; by distance from city/town or postcode; or region. I choose temp and perm, 15miles of Cardiff

After a couple of searches, I only found five jobs within the UK: 2xBrent Cross; 2xStevenage; 1xRotherham.

Job Seekers Note: Accepting that it is the end of July 2012, post both university, college and school break-up, I conclude that most of their seasonal vacancies are filled. However, if you register, there is a CWN provided eMail service that will alert you to newly listed River Island jobs in your region

For the purposes of this exercise, I choose the Friday/Saturday perm but part-time job at Brent Cross (Job Seekers Note: read the job descriptions carefully. They may look like the same job, but the hours will be different)

I now got taken to a dedicated page for that job. There is more detail here, highlighting that there are three teams in operation in a store: Operations; Product: Sales & Stock. This job was in Operations, and highlighted its backroom nature but also that applicants needed to love fashion and keep the stock room clean and tidy. There is also a map showing the location of the job, but no details about the positions salary/package

You will now need to register on River Island’s dedicated CWN portal. I didn’t do this, but its their standard three-stage procedure: About You; More about your experience; Your personal details. You are also given extra details now, such as when the job application window closes. At any point, there is the opportunity to save your job application part way through creating it.

River Island jobs UK

Overall, this was a good job applicant experience. Although the jobs application portal is difficult to find (SEO it River Island!!!), and the information in places stark, there is enough information there to allow the average job seeker to make a great job applcation for a River island Job. There is good integration between River island and the CWN Applicant Tracking System, and don’t let my experience with lack of jobs put you off applying.

Overall, a good experience which could be improved in a few areas: 9/10

Apart from using our own Professional CV Writing Service, which guarantees you a job interview in 30days or less, here is the world’s quickest, easiest and fastest way to writing a CV

If you want more information on this subject, and want to write something that is improved on this basic outline, then add in the steps in the article Writing A Good CV.

What is a CV?

A CV is a short list of facts about you and your work history, skills, qualifications and experiences. A good CV is essential when looking for work and it is worth spending time getting it right so it sells you to an employer.

Writing a CV UK

Time line: the first thing that you need is a time line of all the jobs and positions that you have fulfilled. Take a sheet of A4 paper, and divide it horizontally into nine columns. Label those columns (left to right): Company; Title; Dates; Skills; Qualifications; Experiences; Results; Good; Bad

Facts, what employers want, what you want: the first three columns cover the facts of employment: who and where. Employers employ on two issues: competencies and results. The next three columns focus on competencies, the fourth column on results. The final two columns are about you: what did you like/was good about that job; what did you dislike/what was bad about that job. While your CV will be written around columns 4 to 7, unless you take into account the last two columns in the jobs that you apply for, you will create or continue a pattern of continual job rotation

Filling in the time line: now from leaving school at 16 through to the current day, sketch out the list of the jobs and positions (data to be collected for the first three columns). You are bound to get this wrong at first, so either use a separate sheet of paper or a pencil. If you don’t have much work experience, include temporary, holiday, part-time or voluntary jobs too. If you’ve had many different jobs, emphasise the skills and experience you have across those jobs (for example, dealing with customers or communication skills).

Creating the employability meat: once you have a time line, go back and fill-in the next four columns. What were the skills, qualifications and experiences that you gained, and what results (money, market share, new products/services, cost savings, etc) did you create in that job?

Writing your CV: go to your favourite jobs board, and pick 10 current vacancies and print them out. Use this as your guide to writing out each of your past jobs. What you want to do is end up with two elements: a three/five line worded STAR paragraph that defines the job; 5/8 bullets high lighting the key competencies and results.

Creating a Personal Statement: This is a short statement at the beginning of your CV to sell yourself, to show your skills, experience and personal qualities. There are many ways to create a personal statement, but the most effective that we have found is the form: I am (job/market and what I solve); I do/deliver (Competencies/SQE plus Results); I seek (your job) Tailor the statement to the requirements of each job that you apply for. If the job you’re applying for is different from what you’ve done in the past, explain why you’re interested in the new type of work. Make it clear to the employer that you’re the right person for the job.

Putting it all into a document: Effective CV’s are about two things: words and presentation. You have done step1, now for step2. Use a CV Layout with a font that is easy to read/scan (Ariel or Times New Roman are ideal), and a minimum font scale at 11points or above

Personal Statement at the top: Mention things you did well in your past jobs which could be relevant to the job you’re applying for.

Reverse Chronology employment history: Put your most recent job first and include dates. Employers will be more interested in what you have done recently. Emphasise the skills and experience you have gained across those jobs (for example,skills in dealing with customers or communication skills).

Headers & Footers: add your name, address and telephone number/email address to the top and bottom of each page

Qualifications: include a list of qualifications on Page2

Training:below your Qualifications, add a list of relevant to that job application training

CV Interests: can support your job application if your hobbies and leisure activities highlight responsibilities and skills that are relevant to the job you’re applying for. Perhaps you belong to a club or a society which you organise activities for, or you use leadership skills or teamwork.

Before you submit your CV

Check – not required: due to various pieces of legislation, there is now no need to include your date of birth, sex, sexual orientation, or marital status

References: It’s good to have two or more people who can provide a work or personal reference. Ideally, one should be your most recent employer. If you haven’t worked for a while it could be someone who has known you for a long time. It should be someone who can comment on your qualities in relation to the job. You should ask the person to agree to this beforehand.

How to use your CV

Send your CV with a covering letter or email asking companies if they have any current or future vacancies. Use your CV to help you remember all the dates and information you need each time you need to fill in an application form. When applying for jobs by phone it can help if you are asked to give more information about previous jobs. Having your CV with you while you’re waiting to be called in to an interview can help refresh your memory. You can also leave a copy with the interviewer if they do not already have one. Recruitment agencies may sometimes ask to see your CV before you can register with them.